HAVANA, March 24. /TASS/. Russia calls on the United States to immediately stop illegal trade and financial blockade of Cuba, visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday after talks with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez and President Raul Castro.

"We have reiterated our principled position on the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States," Lavrov said. "We commend this process and concurrently call on the United States to stop its illegal trade and financial blockade of Cuba as soon as possible."